A Resource Policy Management System (RPMS) is an integral piece of Internet Protocol (IP) networks that are used to deliver integrated voice, data and fax services. The RPMS is used in Internet Protocol (IP) networks to implement Internet Service Provider (ISP) policies. For example, RPMS may be used on an ISP server to control the number of customers that can be connected to the ISP server at the same time. A customer dials-in to a Network Access Server (NAS). Before establishing a connection between the customer and the ISP, the NAS first notifies the ISP of the new dial-in request.
The RPMS tracks the number of connections that are currently being serviced by the ISP server. If the number of connections currently being serviced by the ISP server has reached some predefined threshold, the RPMS responds back to the NAS declining the new connection request. If the number of connections currently being serviced by the ISP server is below the specified threshold, then the RPMS responds back to the NAS accepting the new connection request. The NAS then establishes a connection between the customer and the ISP server.
The RPMS currently consists of a single-server application. If that single-server fails, all the RPMS states maintained in that server are lost. The network access server cannot simply switch all the customer connections over to a standby ISP server, since the standby server has no knowledge of the current state of the down ISP server.
The present invention addresses this and other problems associated with the prior art.